Forward march of America’s house prices misses a step

San Francisco is one of eight cities where prices rose more in the year to October than a month earlierJustin Sullivan/Getty Images

American house price growth continued to slow in October, placing another question mark against the US housing market recovery.

Home prices nationally increased by 4.6 per cent in the 12 months to the end of October, down from 4.8 per cent in September, according to the S&P/Case Shiller home price indices. The composite index of 20 cities rose by 4.5 per cent in October from the previous year, compared with a revised 4.8 per cent increase in September.

Despite the slowdown, analysts at S&P said they were hopeful that strong economic growth and falling unemployment would provide a boost to the market next year, as prices in eight cities, including San Francisco, Denver and Tampa, rose more in the year to October than a month…